Category Archives: Slashers / Survival

Anything and everything Slasher/Survival.

Outlast: A refreshing entry in the survival horror genre

Posted by EvilGamer on

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Today in gaming there is a genre that is lacking and that is survival horror. After the golden age of horror games during the playstation 1 & 2 era, horror games are no longer the norm. Today all we have is the same recycled shooters that have little to no innovation. Even Capcom the company that made survival horror into a genre with its acclaimed Resident evil franchise, has taken the dark path and has destroyed the beloved horror series. But there is no need to give up hope yet. In the last few years we have seen a rising in indie horror games come out (mostly on PC) and has shown that there is still a horror fan base in gaming. Games like Amnesia: The dark descent, Slender and many others have kept the horror genre in the field but there is one game that I have played recently that has given me my survival horror fix and that game is Outlast.

Outlast is a 2013 First person survival horror game. Developed and Published by Red Barrels and was released on PC, Plastation 4 and  XBOX ONE.

The game’s plot is rather simple. You play as  freelance journalist  Miles Upshur who after an anonymous tip, travels to a remote psychiatric hospital located deep in the mountains of Colorado. There Miles must find out what dark secrets the Hospital holds. The story line of the game is not very long depending on the difficulty you play. If you play it on normal then the game will last you from 5 to 6 hours of game play. In the game you are only equipped with a camcorder and must use the camera’s night vision to navigate through the dark halls of the Asylum. The camera does have a battery life so in order to keep it running you must find batteries located around the Asylum. There is absolutely NO weapons in this game, in order for you to survive you must run and hide from the  homicidal inmates that roam the asylum. This makes the game very suspenseful and very nerve-racking, not to mention that the inmates will become more aggressive each time they are alerted of your whereabouts.

Moving on from game play, Outlast has the most terrifying atmosphere I have seen in a horror game in years. From the bright lit rooms with corpses and blood covering the floor to dark, run down cell blocks which are still inhabited by crazed inmates, you will have the feeling you are not alone and that there is always something around the corner. Most of the scares in Outlast mostly depend on the environment. Sure there may be some jump scares here and there but the environment around you supplies the feeling of fear you have while playing. To add to the atmosphere of the game, Outlast has a very good soundtrack. Both terrifying and relaxing depending on the situation you are in.

Now onto the performance of the game. If you are planning to get it on PC (which I highly recommend) then you have no worries the game does not require a huge rig on steroids, but just to be safe please check the game’s requirements. I currently run the game on my laptop which has a intel core i5 processor, 8gb of ram, 500gb hard drive, and Intel HD 4400 graphics card; and I am able to play the game on maxed settings with 40 to 50 fps.

If you miss the good old days of horror back on PS1 and PS2 then I highly recommend Outlast. It has everything you need for a late night scare. Outlast is now available for PC, Playstation 4, and XBOX ONE for $19.99 as well as the Whistleblower expansion for $9.99.

One Hell of an Evil Ride! Scream Park review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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I’ve never been big on a budget film, or any other film, riding the coattails of famous actors by name alone. The style of marketing seems like a scam, a racket, a trick, or a scheme since most of the time the actors or the actresses are in the film for a whole five minutes, if that. Scream Park pulls the same kind of marketing headlining the film with Hellraiser’s Pinhead himself Doug Bradley at the top of the DVD cover. Like any and all movies in que for a review, a chance is given and so I continue with my viewing of Cary Hill’s Scream Park with Doug Bradley. Bradley’s presence is a quick snapshot, but the entire film is worth a long take when a good slasher is considered.
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THe horror inspired amusement Fright Land is shutting it’s rundown doors for good and the handful of workers are looking to have one last after hours hurrah with booze and a little sexual mischief. Park owner (played by Doug Bradley) has another idea to spark more life into Fright Land that will have ride goers remember Fright Land forever. Hired killers lurk through the darkness of the park and one by one the teen workers are hunted down.

Scream Park starts right from the get go with the last few minutes of park operations and right into where our killers enter the park. There is no time to digest the cast of characters, but writer-director Cary Hill pens just enough information about each character to establish credibility of being. In fact, the killers don much personality as well. Former Skinny Puppy band member Nivek Ogre is a psychotic and deranged hillbilly with no real background other than those traits, but is there a real reason for murder? Ogre’s brute force, unspoken “Ogre” has the strength and measurability of a Michael Myers like killer.
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The practical effects are a nice touch in a computer generated effects world and the amounts of blood spilled warrants recognition. The death scenes are nothing out of the ordinary – a cut throat, a snapped neck, a strangulation – but there are a few that stand out and are nicely done with all the dramatic bells and whistles – see the axe to the head scene! Basically, the killers resemble English invaders of Scotland and commit all but pilferage the rickety old park.

The acting could use some work as the delivers come off as robot-like and scenes seem obviously rehearsed. Unnatural is the term that comes to mind. Kailey Marie Harris gives a jaw dropping performance when she takes off her top and exposes her mammoth melons – goodness gracious. Speaking of maturity, the cast will mature as I see potential in leading lady Wendy Wygant as the fear in her eyes is convincing. You can tell experience from inexperience in the five minute scene with Doug Bradley and leading man Steve Rudzinkski as the park Manager. Bradley has not lost his touch since Hellraiser and continues to be powerful and compelling even for only a short time.
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Scream Park is a good edition to any slasher collection. More low budget horrors should look to Cary Hill’s film as inspiration and as an example. Though the film was made back in 2012, I’m finally treated to a DVD copy by MVD and Wild Eye Releasing that is set to hit the streets April 22, 2014.

Dance the Evil Dance! Bloody Homecoming review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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The latest trend for independent horror filmmakers is to pay homage to the 80’s slasher. Bloody Homecoming is no different as one other review site said the film is “an unusually effective homage to the golden age of American slasher movies.” Is the Freshman of Brian C. Weed a worthy throwback of the “golden age of American slasher?” The elements are there and I can say that Weed gave it one hell of a try making a masked killer into a relentless murderer of teens that harks back to classic icons like Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.

Football star Billy Corbin dies in a fiery deathtrap during his school’s homecoming. Three years later, the teens who were labeled responsible, but never held accountable, prepare for the school’s first homecoming since the tragic death of Billy Corbin. While in jubilation of their school spirit, a killer dressed in a firman’s gear hunts them down one by one during the homecoming dance; a killer hell fire bent on revenge for Billy.
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And while director Weed makes a heartfelt attempt at a throwback horror movie, the characters are too shallow and need more work to make them more human. Robotic dialogue creates a kind of hatred that only a masked killer could exterminate. Thank goodness for the “fireman” killer. However, a handful of hopeful characters keep the film’s watchability right on the line between entertaining and dull. Bloody Homecoming does bring a unique way, a rare method, when deciding to who gets the axe. Every character is fair game to bite the dust and no one can argue with that as the usual suspects are token black guys, couples who’ve just had sex, and the comic relief – to be fair, all these characters were in this stereotyped high school teen horror film.
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Other slasher films such as My Bloody Valentine or Scream come to mind when thinking about the “fireman” killer. I’m guessing the writer, Jake Helgren, gave the killer inspiration for using the fireman gear after the burning death of Billy Corbin. The outfit is a bit out of place, but the connection between the catalyst and killer can determined. The killer uses a sharpened spirit stick which doesn’t make a intimidating weapon, but effective none the less. Lets just say the spirit stick takes the spirit right out of the kids. The killer character’s depth could have been more extensive and more meaningful. The paper thin motivation from the killer does little for the character and the killer would just be labeled as another run of the mill killer.

Bloody Homecoming won’t knock your socks off, but the death scenes are graphic, bloody, and well timed in the scene. Brian C. Weed’s first attempt at horror is just the tip of the ice berg and we could see some great things from Weed if another opportunity presents itself. The editing is professional and well done so I see things could only get better from here and Bloody Homecoming’s UK DVD release is slated for March 10 from Image Entertainment.

Nurse 3-D – CGI-Nudity Culprit or Legit?

Posted by Steven Lewis on

Nuditybadger at Batty for Nudity brings to light some disturbing, if not troubling, details on Katrina’s Bowden semi-covered nude scene (aka just her ass hanging out) in the shower. Now while Nuditybadger’s final verdict is that Bowden’s ass is in fact her real ass and not some computer generated faux-fanny, there still lies the notion that Hollywood can get away having no actual on screen nudity and just digitize all the good bits and pieces most of us want to see!

From the film:
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From the trailer:
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The first assumption when this was caught was that Katrina’s ass scene (see at the bottom of article) was entirely faked with CGI enhancements. The other assumption was that maybe perhaps to make the trailer more commercial-friendly, a computer generated bikini was quickly added to not offend certain viewers (who wish not to experience the great female form). Both points are valid, but in the “end” the conclusion was that Katrina is indeed giving us her rear-end with no movie magic pulling strings, but this is just the beginning with CGI/Fake nudity – remember Jessica Alba in Machete? Leslie Mann or Olivia Wilde in The Change-Up? or the remake of Night of the Demons with Diora Baird?

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Nurse 3-D: A dedicated nurse has a dark side at night when she uses her sexual advances to lure men to their death. Paz De La Huerta stars and you can check her all over in the movie and below!

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Grade A Evil! Murder University review!

Posted by Steven Lewis on

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Enthralled from last week’s viewing of Richard Griffin’s The Disco Exorcist (see review here) that I checked into the player another Griffin film entitled Murder University from 2012. A fairly generic titled college slasher with semi-comedic values that tries to blend in with similar genre slashers such as Urban Legend, House on Sorority Row, Black Christmas, or Sorority House Massacre. Comedy elements separate Murder University from the rest as well as Murder University doesn’t set itself in the present time of which the setting takes place. I’ll dissect Griffin’s film the best I can because my response post viewing teeters back and forth of a thumbs up for pratical effects and homage or thumbs down for storyline and dialogue.

Greensboro University has a notorious reputation for being constructed by a founder who ritualized satanic values and murdered people for years in the late 19th century. In the late 20th century, the New England university is once again plague by the cult-like killers who call themselves the Greesnboro Devils. A survivor of a recent attack and a shunned detective try to hunt down the motives behinds the killings and the secrets of a legacy of killers.
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The upside of Murder University stems from the use of practical special effects. Decapitations became an obvious motif for this film (though there was no reason to explain this and I can only guess that beheadings were a big way to die in the 80s) with a grand total of six axe-chopped decapitations. The detail in the severed heads had high marks as well as other death scenes in the movie. Another throwback from the 80’s is the music and Murder University’s soundtrack certainly have that synth, brit-rock feel in some scenes, but in other scenes, 90’s grunge ruled the screen a long with hairstyles and clothes of a more recent decade.

The downside holds more weight coming from the story and the dialogue. The story comes a part at the seems with lead character Josh Greene as his backstory is intertwined with the murders and to get more of that backstory from his past would have been better than the exposition given nature of who Josh really is destined to be and what Josh is destined to be comes off pointless by default. Was this the divine will of Satan? Were these killers psychotic? What were the motivations? That is the real questions. The dialogue also scores low marks for being off key, choppy, awkward, and explicatively gratuitous. Not everybody is Quentin Taratino and can pull of mouthy vulgarity with ease and the script with Murder University just seems too forced for comfort.
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Jamie Dufault has a solid performance as our hero Josh Greene coming from a nobody in college and transforming to becoming the ultimate domineer in the end, but Nat Silva gives an even more solid performance as the killer (when the killer has dialogue) and Samantha Acampora (Josh’s girlfriend Meg) is certainly the eye candy that we wish would show a little more skin than just her bare ass.

Murder University‘s retro entertainment keeps afloat just under chin level and won’t bore you to death. Richard Griffin is two for two in my little black book of directors and I’ll keep an eye out for more of his material in the future. MVD and Wild Eye Releasing release this Not Rated, widescreen disc with deleted scenes and two commentary tracks. This should be a fairly affordable, tongue-and-cheek horror movie if you’re looking for a cheap, yet entertaining, thrills.

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